Seeking forgiveness from the Most-forgiving

Hadith #42 of the 40 Hadeeth Imam Nawawi:

What a very beautiful hadith!

From Anas, radiyallahu 'anhu, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, sallallahu 'alayhi wasallam, say:

"Allah the Almighty has said: 'O son of Adam, so long as you call upon Me, and hope in Me, I shall forgive you for what you have done, and I shall not mind. O son of Adam, were your sins to reach the clouds in the sky and were you then to ask forgiveness of Me, I shall forgive you. O son of Adam, were you to come to Me with an earthful of sins and were you then to face Me, without having associated anything with Me, I shall grant you an earthful of pardon.'"

[Recorded by Al-Tirmidhi, who said that it is a good and sound hadith]

We talk about friendship

In my whole life, I believe in friendship. But there was once where I gave it up. Allah had tested me with a ‘wrong’ person in a so-called friendship. But that was years ago, back in my secondary school. Alhamdulillah, when I entered campus life, Allah had given me the chance to meet loads of wonderful people.

In a nutshell, I grew by friendship. I treasure amity as I treasure my family. Some time ago, friends had always come first. I’d gone through my teenage days with my friends. I shared love stories and girls secrets with friends. I laughed with friends, and cried with them too. That is why, if you notice, I write quite a lot about friendship in here.

That is because in my whole life, I believe in friendship, and I grew by friendship, too.

I have a theory. The secret of a good friendship, like any other relationship, is love. You know why? Because love holds some kind of super power that able to melt the heart. Love teaches you to be compassionate and forgiving. Love makes you having a big heart and teaches you how to build respect and trust. Love gives you memories. Memories cling. They don’t just disappear. Memories keep friendship alive, albeit after friends go apart.

 

I have another theory. Anyone can never judge friendship by quantity. No matter how many people you have known, in the end, those who stick with you are your true friends. But you can’t be calculative. You stick to your friends even if they choose to abscond. 

With friends, you sometimes act like a nanny. A real irksome! That’s because you love them. But when they choose to split up, you’d hush away and wait. When they come back to you, you’d accept them with an open heart. That’s because you love them, too. Thus, you respect their verdict.

With friends, you sometimes act like a child. You coddle yourself in a cocoon of friendship. You take comfort from them for almost everything, even on something a little too trifling. You share stories, even the silly ones, then laugh or cry over each and every of them. You take late phone calls and sacrifice your sleep for friends. But when they choose to walk away and start their new life without you, you'd hush away and wait. And when they do not come back, all you could do is pray and wish that they are just fine. Sometimes in the dark night, when the memories visit, you’d snivel in despair. But that is all. You can’t forget them, never mind to hate them. Coz love binds. And love is all that lingers.   

People come and go. Our friends do. But friendship remains, if we never let it go. Every now and then, we smile for the memories we’d kept since the friendship begin. We weep over the pine for our long-lost friends. And always, we pray for our beloved friends.

Friends come and go. And you can’t ever stop them from walking away. But it’s up to you to create a further distance or to make it closer. Otherwise, just stand still so that there'll be no place for awkwardness.

As the thoughts about friendship lie here, my own story conceals somewhere in my heart.

Dear my arch nemesis,

I hope you are just fine. I know there is no way you could reach here. And that is all the point. This entry is specially for you. -XOXO-

photo: http://theredboa.blogspot.com

Xiet Enigma

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Tolong tengok Tahajjud cinta. Saya ada share kat cerita tu. Hehe

Tajuk tu macam promo je kan? Share konon. Share apa? Setakat share feeling2 time tengok citer tu buat apa? :P

Assalamu'alaikum friends,
Lama tak update belog. Tapi kawan2 lain pun lama jugak tak update belog. Korang update la. Meh kita sama2 update bagi mengubat kerinduan masing2. Hehe...

OK back to the topic. Sekarang ni kalau Jumaat malam, pukul 9PM, TV3 menayangkan sebuah drama bersiri bertajuk Tahajjud Cinta. Xiet sempat tengok episod pertama tapi tengok gitu2 je. First impression cerita ni tak berapa best. But after a few series terlepas, Xiet berpeluang lagi tengok citer tu pada beberapa episod seterusnya. But still, langkah2 episod...

Tapi selepas beberapa episod ditayangkan, Xiet dapat tahu yang cerita ni dikatakan mendatangkan kontroversi. Ada sebilangan orang islam yang tak suka cerita ni ditayangkan dengan sebab ia dikatakan mengkucar kacirkan dan memfitnah Islam, menghina wanita berpurdah dan pesantren.... Biasalah kan masyarakat kita ni, kalau ada rumors kata benda2 negatif and berlaku boikot terhadap sesuatu perkara tu, orang suka terus percaya tanpa usul periksa dan ikut boikot... So, untuk tak merasa diri ini pun sama je macam statement yang sendiri cakap, Xiet pun tengok la cerita tersebut untuk beberapa episod supaya justifikasi yang dilakukan lebih adil.

My personal opinion, overall cerita tu sangat menarik sebenarnya. Plot cerita dan garapan skrip sangat matang. Scene dan penggambaran pun menarik! Cuma tak dinafikan cerita ni boleh dikatakan sebagai 'berat' kerana ia melibatkan perbincangan soal2 agama dan melibatkan penyampaian ayat2 suci Al-Quran dan hadith2 di dalam perbincangan2. Kesimpulannya, cerita tersebut memberi banyak ruangan untuk kita berfikir.

Persoalannya, berapa ramai di kalangan kita yang mahu berfikir apabila menonton drama?
Persoalan kedua, berapa ramai pula yang bersedia untuk terbuka terhadap cerita2 berunsur perbezaan pendapat dan 'luar dari kebiasaan' genre cerita tontonan masyarakat kita?
Persoalan ketiga, adakah penerbit drama tersebut benar2 bersedia dan mengkaji impak dan implikasi drama yang ditayangkan apabila mengambil kira persoalan pertama dan kedua?

Ada pendapat mengatakan bahawa cerita tersebut dilihat mencemarkan nama ustaz2 dan sekolah agama. Pada pendapat Xiet, perkara2 seperti ini berlaku di dalam masyarakat kita. Walaupun biasalah standard sesebuah drama tu before start akan cakap cerita ni takde kaitan dengan yang hidup atau mati tapi sebenarnya samada secara keseluruhan, sikit-sikit atau sipi-sipi, keadaan seperti yang digambarkan di dalam drama ni wujud di dalam realiti. Berapa ramai kes manusia yang bertopengkan jubah, tudung dan kopiah untuk menutup kejahatan mereka? Bukanlah mereka ini orang alim, sebaliknya mereka adalah orang jahat yang menjual agama bagi menutup kejahatan mereka, dan perbuatan mereka boleh memburukkan agama.

Drama adalah salah satu wacana terbaik untuk meleraikan salah faham yang membelenggu masyarakat kita selama ini. Kalau nak mengenengahkan dan meleraikan isu, macam mana nak ditonjolkan masalah tersebut jika watak2nya semua baik2 belaka? macam mana nak menjadi sebuah cerita? Macam mana nak menyampaikan mesej? Maka penonton tak boleh la nak marah kalau watak ustaz tersebut dilihat jahat contohnya. Sebab, memang objektif cerita tersebut untuk menyatakan bahawa tak semua yang dilihat alim itu benar2 alim dan mempunyai kredibiliti seorang alim. Walau bagaimanapun, drama juga boleh menjadi punca kepada salah faham itu sendiri sekiranya strategi yang dilakukan tidak tepat.

Ada 3 perkara penting ingin Xiet sampaikan dan kongsikan khusus terhadap drama bersiri Tahajjud Cinta:-
1- Cerita berupa 'counter back' macamni agak bahaya untuk dijadikan cerita bersiri. Sebabnya mudah. Tak semua orang dapat tengok cerita ni setiap episod. And memandangkan skrip dan genre cerita sebegini memerlukan kefahaman yang betul, dan tak semua orang arif tentang topik2 yang diketengahkan dalam cerita ni, maka sangatlah bahaya cerita macamni dijadikan bentuk bersiri/episod. Tapi masih boleh untuk dijadikan cerita berepisod sekiranya setiap persoalan yang dilontarkan di dalam episod tersebut, di jawab di dalam episod yang sama....

Xiet mendapat feedback daripada a few friends yang muslim tentang drama ni. Ada beberapa yang cakap masa tengok tu menyampah dan terus stop tengok. Bukan menyampah pada jalan cerita, tapi pada watak Ustaz Shauki (kiranya Eman Manan memang power la tu. Hehe). And ada jugak yang taknak tengok dah sebab cakap cerita ni confusing. You see, even orang Islam sendiri pun boleh rasa cerita tu confusing and ada unsur2 kontroversi terhadap agama, apatah lagi kalau non muslim yang tengok. Xiet rasa hal ni tak jadi isu kalau setiap episod mempunyai jalan penyelesaiannya. Cuma fahamlah kalau nak tengok dari segi keseluruhan cerita, memang tak menarik dan tak suspen la kalau setiap episod dah ada kesudahan. Maybe itulah target penerbit dan penulis skrip. Nak jadikan cerita tu menarik sehingga ke hujung, tapi mestilah kena tengok sampai ke hujung cerita!

2-  Berkenaan dengan hadith2 yang diambil dan dijadikan fakta hujah. Xiet bukanlah ahli hadith. Dan sebilangan besar penonton juga bukan dikalangan ahli hadith. Maka sebab itu Xiet harap hanya hadith2 yang sahih sahaja dimuatkan di dalam hujah2 mereka. Bukan apa, mungkin kerana kebijaksanaan susunan plot dan garapan emosi, bila Ustaz Shauki berhujah, hujahnya sering nampak kukuh. Dan bila Ustaz Shauki mengutarakan hadith2 dna ayat Quran bagi membela diri dan perbuatannya tu, memang sometimes terasa yang Islam tu memang berat sebelah. Xiet tak pasti samada memang ini adalah effect daripada garapan emosi dan susunan plot yang baik, atau memang hadith2 tersebut bukan hadith yang sahih. Sekiranya memang benar penulis skrip menggunakan hadith yang tak sahih, dan tujuannya memang nak bagitau yang ustaz shauki tu hanya mencedok apa2 sahaja kata2 dan hadith2 asalkan dapat mempertahankan diri dan nafsunya, maka perlulah di kaunter pada waktu/episod yang sama jugak. Tapi sekiranya hadith yang dijadikan hujah memang bukan hadith2 yang sahih dan penulis skrip tidak sedar akan hal ni, memang ini adalah satu kesalahan yang tidak boleh dimaafkan!

Apa yang Xiet perasan, cerita ni pada satu2 episod memang nampak yang Ustaz Shauki tu memang hebat dan cakap dia sentiasa benar. Memang masing2 watak di dalam berdebat mengeluarkan hujah berdasarkan ayat Quran dan hadith, tetapi Ustaz Shauki yang paling banyak. Contoh kalau dia marah wife dia si Seri tu. Segala macam hujah dari Hadith keluar. Tapi Seri tu membatu je tak melawan. Padahal ada hadith2 dan ayat quran lain yang menjelaskan kesalahan Ustaz Shauki tu....

And Xiet puji wata Citra yang memang pandai berhujah dan tegas. Watak Citra memang satu watak yang penting untuk menyampaikan objektif sebenar cerita ni. Tapi tiba2 masa Ustaz Shauki cakap Citra tu berfahaman Islam sekular dan takde scene dibuat untuk back up kebenaran Citra dan kesalahan fakta Ustaz Shauki tu, Xiet agak kecewa sebab katalah non muslim tengok cerita ni, or tak pun muslim yang confuse... Tak ke dia rasa oh, Islam yang terbuka dan kelihatan baik macam Citra ni rupanya sekular. Lagi2lah nak lawan ketokohan watak Ustaz Shauki tu kan, memang nampak benar lah label yang Ustaz Shauki berikan kepada Citra tu... So Xiet rasa ini yang membuatkan cerita ni menjadi kontroversi. Sepatutnya pembikin drama ni kena lebih sensitif dan kreatif. Memang tak mudah, tapi dah itu kerja korang kan?

3- Cerita begini adalah sebuah cerita yang mengajak kita berfikir, bersabar dan tidak melulu menunjukkan reaksi. Bertentangan dengan sikap manusia, biasanya baru 'tercuit' sikit, mula nak melenting. Sebab tu mungkin ramai yang tidak memberi peluang kepada cerita ni sehingga akhir dan kemudian baru kita nilai dan kritik habis2 an, serta memberi teguran yang sewajarnya kepada penerbit dan konco2nya sekiranya berlaku kesilapan. Atau jika nak mengkritik dan menegur sebelum penyudah cerita pun tak menjadi masalah, tetapi biarlah dengan keadilan dan hikmah.

Kadangkala muslim sendiri yang terlalu cepat melenting dan tidak mahu berfikiran terbuka. Contohnya, bila cerita berat begini ditayangkan dengan tujuan yang baik, tetapi dek kerana kita yang malas nak berfikir dan tidak mahu belajar untuk mendalami lagi ilmu agama kita, drama macam ni pulak yang kena marah dan kena boo. Senang cerita, kita yang tak tahu, tapi marahkan sesuatu perkara yang diluar pengetahuan kita, padahal perkara tersebut tidak salah dan kita yang jahil....

Xiet tak cakap Xiet salahkan penonton 100% sebab memang terdapat beberapa isu yang memerlukan pembaikan daripada pihak pembikin drama tersebut. Jangan dianggap hal yang dilihat remeh tu tidak mampu memberi impak negatif kepada persekitaran/masyarakat.... Namun, kepada umat Islam, bagus anda prihatin. Tapi cuba kita lihat sisi yang positif kepada drama sebegini supaya dapat kita ambil pengajaran daripadanya. Jika mahu mengkritik, kritiklah berdasarkan ilmu, bukan emosi semata2. Prihatin itu baik jika kena pada tempatnya. Jika kita bandingkan drama sebegini dengan drama2 yang tiada hala tuju, tiada pengajaran yang jelas dan banyak memberi impak negatif kepada masyarakat, bukankah drama seperti Tahajjud Cinta ni lebih intelek, lebih mematangkan fikiran dan lebih bermanfaat? Mengapa kita tidak mengkritik drama2 lain yang tiada unsur2 islamik langsung? (kalau nak cakap pasal isu agama la kan).

P/S: Apa2pun, I respect watak Citra dalam cerita tu. And cerita ni memang banyak mainan emosi (marah dan geram paling banyak). Jom kita tengok apa kesudahan cerita ni. Then baru kritik lagi. Hehe

 Asyik komen pasal drama/filem, dah taknak jadi saintis eh? Tukar bidang pulak?  :)

Oh Allah, please forgive me

Alhamdulillah, we've been given the opportunity to perform the Isya' and Tarawih prayers in Masjid Negeri for this past week. And there's one day where Syeikh Sa'ad Sai'd Al-Ghamdi lead the prayers (Imaam). I still remember how bliss it was when he recited the Al-Quran. Memang menusuk ke hati. Bukan sekadar bacaan nya yang merdu tapi mostly because he knew what he was reciting... And among all the ayaah that he recited, there's one that'd made my heart melted and my tears burst. At that time, I wasn't remember the chapter and verse number. I just caught the meaning. Bila balik, I pun cariklah ayat yang dimaksudkan. And it's an ayaah from surah At-Tahrim:-

يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ تُوبُوٓاْ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ تَوۡبَةً۬ نَّصُوحًا عَسَىٰ رَبُّكُمۡ أَن يُكَفِّرَ عَنكُمۡ سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمۡ وَيُدۡخِلَڪُمۡ جَنَّـٰتٍ۬ تَجۡرِى مِن تَحۡتِهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَـٰرُ يَوۡمَ لَا يُخۡزِى ٱللَّهُ ٱلنَّبِىَّ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ مَعَهُ ۥ‌ۖ نُورُهُمۡ يَسۡعَىٰ بَيۡنَ أَيۡدِيہِمۡ وَبِأَيۡمَـٰنِہِمۡ يَقُولُونَ رَبَّنَآ أَتۡمِمۡ لَنَا نُورَنَا وَٱغۡفِرۡ لَنَآ‌ۖ إِنَّكَ عَلَىٰ ڪُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ قَدِيرٌ

" O you who believe, turn to Allah with a faithful repentance. It is hoped from your Lord that he will write off your faults, and will admit you to the gardens beneath which rivers flow, on the Day when Allah will not disgrace the Prophet and those who believed with him. Their light will run before them and to their right hands. They will say, “Our Lord, perfect for us our light, and forgive us. Indeed you are powerful over every thing.” _At-Tahrim, 66:8


I'm sinful. And I just hope that Allah will forgive me. and so that I can follow the path of Rasulullah and the sahaabah. And so that I can be with the believers in Paradise.


P/S: How's your last phase of Ramadhan this year? How's preparation fot AidilFitri? Feel free to read my previous entry about Hari Raya: Sunnah ke tak amalan kite.Kalau nak baca click sini
Sekian terima kasih :-)

Hayya bil 'arabiyyah @ TV Al-hijrah

Cube baca tajuk tu mengikut lagu tema hayya bil 'arabiyyah dalam radio IKIM.FM. Hehehe...

Do you know about one new islamic channel named TV AL-Hijrah? Xiet dapat siaran tv ni a few months ago but the coverage was very bad. Tapi sekarang dah cantik dah...

I should give pujian to those yang mengusahakan dan menjayakan siaran ni. Why? Sebab ia adalah satu alternatif channel yang sangat bagus. Banyak memaparkan cerita-cerita bercorak pendidikan samada secara direct atau indirect, terutamanya pendidikan agama Islam. Lagi-lagilah bulan Ramadhan sekarang ni kan. Banyak la kuliah2 ilmu disiarkan. 

Sejak mengikuti siaran tv Al-Hijrah ni, Xiet perasan pemilihan drama2 dan filem2 nya lebih universal. Ada beberapa cerita yang ditayangkan datang dari negara timur tengah. Ada juga dari negara sempadan, mengisahkan kehidupan masyarakat Islam di sana. After all, all the dramas are worth watching. Pendek kata, dapatlah kita tonton cerita2 yang luar dari kebiasaan kita. Dapat juga belajar cultures mereka. Sungguh umatnya Islam, tapi cara hidupnya, culturenya berbeza. Menarik!

Cerita2 bersifat discovery pun banyak. Antaranya tentang siri The Sign of The Creator by Harun Yahya, tentang sejarah saintis2 muslim, dan macam-macam lagi lah...

Paling Xiet suka, ada banyak cartoon yang bersifat mendidik seperti cerita tentang kisah2 nabi dan surah2 di dalam Al-Quran. Sesuai untuk kanak2 macam Aaron Houdd. Mostly in English pulak tu. Terbaekkk!

And ada satu perkara yang best untuk diri Xiet sendiri, iaitu boleh sharpen Arabic. Ada beberapa siaran memang dalam Bahasa Arab. Sangat lah sesuai untuk otak Xiet yang dah berkarat ni belajar balik bahasa Al-Quran tu.

Masa sekolah menengah dulu Xiet boleh faham dan bertutur sikit2 dalam bahasa Arab. Cuma Bahasa Arab skema la (fushah). Bukan bahasa pasar ('ammi). Yelah, belajar kat sekolah pun kan Bahasa Arab fushah. Dulu masa sekolah biasalah budak2 suka hafal karangan kan. Tapi Xiet tak suka hafal. Kalau exam, perah la otak sampai kecut untuk buat karangan sendiri. Tak kisah la kelam kabut pun, tapi Xiet suka buat sendiri supaya boleh meningkatkan bahasa itu sendiri. Walaupon mungkin hasilnya, Xiet tidak mendapat sebuah karangan yang baik. Namun Alhamdulillah, masa SMA form 4 pun result tak mengecewakan. Dapatlah Jayyid jiddan. Lagi beberapa peratus sahaja nak Mumtaz, dan oleh kerana pada batch tersebut tiada pelajar yang mendapat Mumtaz, maka Xiet telah menjadi antara top 5 di dalam sekolah pada tahun itu.

Lepastu masuk U, ambil bidang Sains kan. Confrim2 la tak de sepatah perkataan pun menggunakan bahasa Arab sebagai bahasa perantaraan. Time tu masih menebal lagi kecintaan dalam Bahasa Arab. Time tu masih boleh dengar Mona Jasman (Ikim.Fm) membebel2 dalam Bahasa Arab. 

Tapi lama kelamaan bila dah tak praktis, makin luput la skill memahami and bertutur dalam bahasa tu. Yelah, macam bahasa lain jugak, B.Inggeris misalnya. Kalau lama tak cakap kan bila nak cakap tu mula la kurang confident. Vocab pun lari entah ke mana...

Terakhir Xiet test power adalah hujung tahun 2009, masa tu Yusuf Qardawi datang Masjid Negeri. Masa tu Xiet pregnant Aaron Houdd 6-7 bulan. Memang ada translator tapi Xiet berusaha untuk faham direct dari beliau. Herm... memang rasa berkarat la time tu sebab dah tak dapat faham semua. Dapat faham sebahagian aje.

Sekarangni, dah semakin jarang sangat membaca, mendengar atau bertutur dalam Bahasa Arab. Paling2 pun time recite Al-Quran and hadith je. Tu pun, kebanyakan hadith dah senang dah. Ada translation english or malay lagi...So tinggal time baca quran je lah. 

Perkara paling Xiet suka tentang arabic ni adalah memudahkan penghayatan ketika solat dan membaca quran. Memang satu bonus yang tak ternilai harganya! Bila baca quran tak payah la sikit2 tengok translation. Dulu boleh la, sekarang ni sayangnya dah tak macam dulu. Masa terawih pun sedih je sebab sekarangni secara keseluruhan, Xiet hanya boleh faham dalam 20-30% je kalau Imam baca ayat2 yang Xiet tak familiar and tak hafal. Teruk kan?!

So sekarangni memang perasaan nak belajar balik bahasa arab sangat menebal. Lagi2 bak kata hubby, kena prepare la kalau kena lepak 'sana' lama-lama, kenala tau bahasa depa. Takla rasa susah sangat. Huhuhu...

Xiet bercita-cita nak ajar Aaron Houdd Bahasa Arab jugak. Tak rugi. Kalau kita boleh belajar Spanish, French, Mandarin, Korea, etc... So why not bahasa yang boleh menambah kefahaman kita di dalam mempelajari Al-Quran, dan juga membantu menambah kekhusyukan di dalam solat... Kan?

1Malaysia: A chain is no stronger than its weakest link

ehsan google

What happen to the world nowadays? Am I being stupid all this while? Or am I too slow to digest the reality? So many conflicts arise nowadays. Mostly are political related!

Never mind about the world today. Let us narrow the scope. Let just focus on our beloved country, Malaysia. What happen to Malaysia nowadays? Have you noticed?

We’ll be celebrating our 54 years of Merdeka Day (Independent Day) end of this month. It’s a half century of journey, a long way have passed by. It’s an age of a wise, mature man who embraces millions of life experiences, if we could transform this into human form.

Living in multiracial cultures for 54 years should signify living in harmony. It should be like living as a big family. If a married couple achieve pure understanding, tolerance and deference by these long years, so should Malaysia. If we can accept differences in each of our siblings, than we should’ve accepted differences among races.

But personally, I think Malaysians are not mature enough to live in multiracial country. I don’t see respect in a real mean is truly employed in our life. I’m not talking about being racist. Racist at some points are obligatory. It’s our nature to become racist and protect our own race and religion. Whoever ask me to stop being racist, I think he is out of his mind... and hypocrite. If you are not racist, others are. So you’re implying a dream philosophy.

What I want to bring here is the way we cope with other races. We should be fair despite races and religions. We should learn about other’s cultures than only we can show respect towards them. How can you respect others if you don’t know their cultures? For instance:

1)     You say you respect Indians but you ta-pau them meat for lunch?

2)     You say you know Malays well enough but you invite them for liquor party.

3)     You’ve been friend with many Malays but you still unaware that adultery is prohibited in Islam and so you offer him a sexy chick.

4)     Or you (Malay) insulting the Chinese for eating swine as filthy and disgusting as the swine

5)     You live in an Islamic country but you complain about the Azaan (prayer calling)

6)     You scold the Chinese for eating in public during Ramadhan but aren’t they are not supposed to fasting so why scold them?

7)     You panggil the India as Keling in front of them, purposely to insult them.

8)     You just can’t tolerate each other and keep pointing fingers at each others’ cultures or beliefs.

That’s why it is so important to learn and know about other races. We don’t have to agree to their beliefs, fair enough to at least take note on main issues, so that we don’t cross the border in our says and actions.

I was raised in a village of Malays as majority. I obtain my education in Islamic schools. I don’t have many non-Malay friends. But that’s not an excuse for me to not learn about other races, because I am Malaysian.

I went to the churches to learn Christianity. It was one of the best moments in my life because I’d got the chance to learn other religion from its believers, in their sacred place. I’d got the chance to join some of the ceremonies, eat the food they’d prepared and talk about our beliefs for a change. From there, I met a few Chinese and Indian friends too. Hence, I wasn’t just learning Christianity, but I’d learnt mixture of cultures as well. The moments were wonderful because it succeed to show our respect to each other. It’d portrayed real harmony. If some of you readers by now have taught I was tried to be converted, you are wrong. Learning other religions has made me appreciate Islam even more.

Alas, that situation is really rare in reality.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”_Aristotle.

This simple quote from Aristotle holds big meaning. I love the idea that we must first know ourselves before we know others. We must show respect to ourselves before we demand respect from others. By all means, we must be honest for who we really are, and portray honesty in front of others. Honesty... is another difficult thing to do. Because honesty against hypocrisy.

We often fail to make others respect us and vice versa by denying the real facts (the truth about our races, religions and cultures). We are not ready to open our heart to admit those facts. We are not ready to have an open discussion. Therefore we fabricate issues. Later, we claim them as sensitive issues. As it happen, someone has to apologize and the issue will be closed unsettled.

Some issues are real sensitive. Racial issues are among the most popular. I don’t think we should let the issue sealed unsettled. By doing this, we let our multiracial country in danger. If no fair explanation and justification is made, everybody will hold grudge by the misconceptions and sooner or later, it might explode!

But there are so-called sensitive issues with no fundamental sentiments at all. There are either came from some depraved political parties for their stupid political games, or by some groups who’d been so long avoided to see the real facts. This kind of so-called sensitive issues are mushrooming the upstream media.

I hate when politics interfere racial issues because consequently we won’t get to know the truth. When they say they want to settle the issue, they often make it more revolting! It’s either they are ignorant to see the later impact could jeopardize our harmony, or that is their actual target- to jeopardize our harmony for their personal objectives.

I did mention that Malaysians are not mature enough to live in multiracial, multireligious and multicultural country. But the fact is, we are living in one country, and we've been living with this for more than 54 years now. So let’s work together to achieve harmony in this country. Don’t get oversensitive by the propaganda done by some irresponsible groups, and say NO to the politicized racial issues!

P/S: Please accept the fact that each of our races has weaknesses. If you fail to accept your weakness, and rather fabricate them as sensitive issue, you are living in denial....

P/S 2: The most common claims- Melayu: Pemalas, banyak mat rempit and penghuni teramai pusat serenti. Cina: Kiasu, selfish and tak reti respect orang. India: Samseng, pandai cakap tapi tak pandai bikin... Betul atau tidak, kita sendiri boleh tau. So tak guna kita overreacted terhadap benda macamni. Yang penting, proof to others that we are good people :P

P/S 3: Terselamat lah bangsa2 lain. Hehehe

Xiet Enigma

Shah Alam

Pesta Ibadah a.k.a The festival of worship

What, nak lagi self reminder for this ramadhan?
Tapi nak yg stylo2 yang highly motivated tapi jugak yang rilek2? (banyak cekadak)

OK2. Jom tengok yang ni pulak.
two versions are available. both are awesomeeeee! ngeheee...

P/S 1: Don't just watch and smiling dude. Let's improve.

Malay version


English version



P/S 2: Feel free to read my previous post reagarding ramadhan. Please click here. :P

I LOVE YOU Ramadhan by AimanAzlan

So busy this Ramadhan huh? Yeah, yeah... So many things to catch up on life rite? Time is shorten by the traffic jam, the preparation for iftor, the taraweh prayer...

Don't have time to feed your soul with tazkirah, ceramah and all?
All right, all right....

So let brings tazkirah here,
Don't worry.... it won't take long. I bet its worth your 9 minutes 5 secs.

It's a good reminder for us especially during this Ramadhan... And I think all the points fit us all the months. So let's try them this ramadhan month and inshaAllah keep them up the other months as well....

KEY POINT IS : PATIENCE.

Happy watching lads! :D

Salam Ramadhan, 1432H

Jame Al-Asr Mosque, Brunei Darussalam. 17/7/2011

A visit with a bestie

Hi there,
OK, how to start? where to start?
Seriously, lately I have no motivation to write about anything in my blogs. Many things to share, but no desire to write.

So, I choose to write something light and easy....
Two days ago, I went to my sis's nest. I call it a nest because that's where she's been hiding from the sun for quite sometimes. A very nice, neat, nest. (how about that, a new tongue twister huh?)

Since I have not meet any of my 'alien' bestie for quite sometimes now, and I am so long for having silly discussion with them like we used to do back in our undergraduate years, so yes, that meeting was something I really looking forward to... And as expected, it came with great avail... I mean, the discussion, and the severe headache. :P

Two important things I want to share about the visit are an open discussion we enjoy doing the most, which I can say this culture is something I hardly find just anywhere, and the friendship that I treasure from the first day it began.

Talking about the discussion. Yes, we may discuss about any issue with anyone. But who can discuss about sensitive topics like race, politics, khilaf in some religion issue (mu'amalah issues) etc. freely without hesitation? Of course with your friend rite? And what kind of friend would accept being disagreed against his/her opinion with an open mind and no heart feeling? Of course the friend whom the relationship is created with love and compassion. rite? I respect those who can agree to disagree. Those who can have serious disagreement in the discussion, but later, after the discussion would have tea together, laugh and share life experiences just like usual. And Alhamdulillah, I have been given the chance to know such human. Such friends.

One thing I remember in the discussion, we talk about our future plan. What would we do in the future? Where would we be?

And we have come to one thing: No matter what we do, where we are, it's good to have us together every now and then for some discussion like we always have in the past, so that whatever we do for living, we don't stop thinking critically and being productive. Yes we can read, we can watch from tv, we can gain knowledge one way. But with two way process like discussion, we can gain more, and most importantly, we can check whether our belief is on the right path, and our principles are correct. It's a good check and balance process though.

It might be something we over-do and over-love... Syok sendiri la tue. But it's a good tool to sustain a friendship. Even if some issues couldn't have solution right away, but at least we have good time together. And that is fair enough :-P

I'm looking forward to meeting my other alien friends; one of them is in Hulu now, playing with monkeys and tigers. (Hikhikhik. Jangan marah na)

Something worth reading (for truly Malaysia)...trust me!

OK. I know this is quite a long entry. a serious one though. But trust me this is something worth reading. how do i know it? because I'd read it. 

As an intro, I was reading one of my sis's latest entry when i later discovered this article, linked by her. Her writing was inspiring enough, but that linked article lit up the mood even more.

FYI, I was there during the BERSIH 1.0 rally. I wasn't there for the rally. I just couldn't remember why my hubby and I were there that day. The only thing I remember is we went to SOGO and few other nearby places. 

And at that moment, I was shock by the keamanan of the rally. It was first, started in peace. Ramai orang, but takde yang mengamuk sakan koyak2 baju or baling2 batu.  But then, everything changed when the police spread the gas pemedih mata, out of the blue!... Although we were already out of the area when chaos happened, but we can still see it clearly....

For the BERSIH 2.0... I takde langsung any intention to join. I am really sick with suck politics here in malaysia. I have no heart to take part in anything anymore... I totally don't agree with those who bring along their kids to the rally. I am a mother. I would never support that. My kid is my whole priority. I don't support the fanatics either. But I am more against the brutal made by one side to terror the other side. I got agitated every time I watch buletin utama and any other news yang memperbodohkan minda orang. I get angrier with those who are easily influenced by one side source, yang ternyata berat sebelah.  

But this girl (the writer of the below article) is awesome! She has strength to ascertain her stand. She has taken all the courage to be herself, holds her own stand with the decision she has made meticulously, wisely. thumbs up! 

I went to the rally as a spectator. I returned a believer. And I had ice cream with the FRU.

By Charis Ding

I went as an individual rather than as a supporter. Whenever asked throughout the day, I told people "I just wanted to see what’s going on". And that was the truth.

In the weeks leading to it, I was undecided whether to support the rally. Right up to yesterday I couldn’t decide. But I knew I didn’t want to stay home or watch from a distance. I didn’t want to just follow the news online. I had to see it with my own eyes. So I decided to do a walkabout, and I thought perhaps it would take being there to help me make my stand. And so as I was there I considered myself an observer – a reporter.

The police presence at the Pasar Seni area was overwhelming. In front of Central Market, four or five blue trucks in a row. Tension on the streets. It was eerily quiet. On Petaling Street, I walked past a small sized aunty in a yellow shirt (: I overheard her words to a few young boys around her – "We must stay united" she said - "that’s why we must wear yellow, to show we are united". I smiled as I passed.

I saw that the flower shop was open and bought a bunch of daisies.

There was tension in the air, the sense of waiting for something to erupt. At Masjid Jamek, there were more policemen than civilians. I took note of their batons, their weapons. The air was oppressive. I caught myself seeing the men in uniform as the antagonists – weren’t they on the other side? But then I realized they were supposed to be our friends. It is their job to protect people like me.

I sat with the other people from various media. On the side of the road leading to the stadium, huge intimidating FRU trucks were lined up. POLICE barricades. After a while hanging around, I decided to wander across those borders. Some of the police, leaning against their truck, looked straight at me. I smiled, they smiled back. Phew. I walked by a bunch of intimidating looking FRU people staring at me. Right across the road from Dataran Merdeka, I stole a picture of one of them leaning on the back of his truck. He called me over. We chatted.   

It's tough, he said. They’ve been here and there all week, hardly with any sleep. Staying watch to make sure everything’s alright. Sometimes they sleep in the trucks. They were there until the wee hours of the morning yesterday, and came back early in the morning. If he could, he’d rather just have a quiet Saturday, stay at home, watch TV.

I nodded because I understood.

I spoke from my heart – it shouldn’t be this way. We should all be friends … we are friends.

Apa nak buat? There is always a chance of those who will cause trouble, he said. Don’t hang around here, he advised. It's not that safe today.

A motorcycle tried to pass, carrying packages in plastic bags. Not wanting to distract him or get him into trouble, I took my leave. Told him to jaga baik-baik. He said "nice to meet you".

I started back across to the other side. Halfway, I came across a bunch from the FRU surrounding an ice cream man, buying ice cream in buns. "Ais krim!" I kinda exclaimed. I was beside myself. "Ambik lah", they said. "Which one do you want? Cornetto?" Just realizing that I had pretty much imposed upon them to belanja me ice cream, I said – "Takpe takpe, saya beli sendiri".

"Takpe, bayar sama sama" – one of them said. They insisted I pick one.

"Where you from?" – they asked in English. "Here", I said – "saya orang sini saje". They laughed, "oh, ingatkan orang jepun!"

As we stood around with our ice creams, they asked me who I was. Did I come for the rally? "saya cume seorang gadis biasa" I said. They found that very amusing.  "jangan-jangan ada t-shirt kuning dalam beg tu".

I laughed – "tak de lah…".

Then what was I doing there? "Saje mau tengok", I said. "cume ingin tahu".

"Baguslah tu", he said. "But you shouldn’t hang around today, it might not be safe". I asked them, "Apa khabar?". "Ok", they said. A bit tired, they hardly had any sleep. Ada rase tension? "Tension tu, sikit-sikit mesti ada lah".

We finished our ice creams, and I said goodbye. "Jaga diri", I said. "Jumpa lagi".

I just had ice cream with the FRU.

Right after I crossed the barrier there was a commotion and the media was running towards where I had just came from. They were apparently mobilizing.

About twenty minutes later, I was in the middle in front of the Maybank Tower with the throngs of people on my right and the FRU line on the left. The crowd had just gathered, they weren’t even moving forward yet. The FRU shot water cannons. It was unprovoked. Then the gas came. When it hit, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breathe. And it hurt. I grabbed some water from my bag and washed my face with it. I covered my face with my baju. In the chaos, one, two people offered me salt. "Makan", they told me. It really helped. I crumbled and sat on the corridors for a minute, eyes and nose watering.   

I got up and kept walking, now amongst the people. Some looked me in the face, Chinese ladies speaking in Mandarin, Malay men in Malay, they seemed shocked and concerned. I must’ve looked a mess. "Are you ok?", they asked me. I tried to smile and nodded.

Soon, people started running. From a distance I saw the men in dark blue chasing the marchers. So many of them. People were running down the hill slope at the Maybank Tower compound. Nowhere to run, they jumped down the hill from some height, scampering across the streets.

I ended up in Pudu, watching the marchers and listening to their shouts of "Hidup Rakyat!". When we had to run later, at one point it was tricky to escape and we had to climb a railing at Pudu station. In the huru-hara, the man beside me, instead of just climbing up himself, was yelling to his friend  – "Tolong amoi ini dulu!" He seemed more anxious for me than he was for himself, or even I was for myself.

Then it started to rain, and I thought – God Himself has intervened.

Once more, I had brothers who were concerned enough to ask me if I was ok. I followed the crowd and met some young men who had come all the way from Pahang for this. We ended up in front of the Chinese Assembly Hall, where a huge crowd had gathered. The police formed a human barricade, arms crossed, and barbed wire at the entrance of the road just a short distance from the Stadium. A. Samad Said came and talked with the policemen. Such a frail man, but so strong.

We sang Negaraku … and we sang it from the heart.

We dispersed soon after. I heard someone asking others to kutip sampah before we left. Retreating, suddenly part of the crowd broke into a run. There was a big group of police chasing from behind. Just as soon as we wanted to run instinctively, others said jangan lari … bertenang. Relaks saja. And we all calmed down again. It was like that the whole day – anytime there seemed to be a chance for rowdiness or chaos or violence, the people themselves would calm each other down, keep things in check.

Meeting up with my friends who were in the KLCC group, we exchanged stories. My friend Jagadev was at the frontline. He had been hit by teargas seven times that day, and he has a battle wound from where a canister hit his leg. But the bulk of what we spoke of wasn’t of hatred or anger – but a sense of passion, of new hope, and of solidarity as a people.

"It seems we’ve got pretty decent people", I mused as a passing comment. I didn’t know how true it would turn out to be but it was immediately confirmed.

So many stories. My friend, caught in the rain, had a Malay man hand her some papers for her to cover up from the rain.

Hit by the full brunt of the tear gas, Jagad, along with a few others, stopped to help a man who had fallen down. He was heavy, too.

When someone tried to shout, incite others and burn a Patriot t-shirt, the rest immediately stopped him, silenced him and removed him from the group.

We are a decent, civilized people. What we experienced that day - Malaysia. 

Later on at dinner with a different group of friends, the conversation was about our nation. This was rare. In the fifteen years I’ve known them, I don’t think we’ve ever talked together about politics, or our nation, or playing a part in it. At least, not like this. But that night, they said to me –  because of you guys, we've decided we are going to register to vote.

They too caught the passion. The unggun. They too were upset over how the government had reacted to the rally, and the statement made by the Bersih marchers is loud and clear. I think it was a statement of hope that they caught. Tens of thousands of Malaysians who went out for a better nation. It’s a call that we can no longer disown or detach ourselves from, because we are in no way a lost cause.

In the midst of this conversation with my friends, something amazing happened. Following Bersih stories on Twitter, we talked about how good Malaysians can be … we remembered certain events and openly admitted those from other races who have been kind to us. And we confronted our stereotypes of always painting them a certain way.

A distinct thought came home to me then: Malaysia, I do love you.

That night we said cheers, to a better Malaysia.

By the end of the day, I discovered I referred to the marchers and myself as ‘we’, no longer ‘them’ and ‘I’. It is because we were there together, as Malaysia. We helped each other and cared for each other as Malaysia. There was no political agenda with the people there – I was there, I experienced it and I know it. It was Malaysia, embracing in our hearts and our actions the hope for better government.

What I experienced on the 9th of July is Malaysia. We are decent people, we are a people of quality. Those in power who are selfish or bigots or who try to divide the people – that is not Malaysia, and they are not deserving of Malaysia. Those who try to taint and politicize the beautiful events of that day, are not deserving of Malaysia. We are a people who deserve much more than that.

We came out and proved that yesterday. It has proved to me, to the marchers who were there, to my friends, what Malaysia is.

And so, on 9th July, Malaysia won.

source: Malaysia-Today


(Please take note that this is my personal opinion as an independent individual of a democratic country)